The demographic story in Pittsburgh has long been that college graduates leave once their schooling is finished, causing a demographic ditch where the 25-35 year olds ought to be – but the data from the 2010 Census proves that there has been a dramatic spike in twentysomethings in Pittsburgh. Even as Pittsburgh’s overall population declined by a little more than 25,000 people between 2000 and 2010, due mostly to the city’s oldest cohorts dying out, the cohort of 20 to 29-year olds increased by some 12,000 people.

This trend has been reported, but, looking at the how dramatic the increase is, it feels like the headline has rather been buried — though the conclusion remains the same: that we must incentivize more twentysomethings to move to Pittsburgh and to keep them here for good. Six Percent Place’s focus on planning for human investment aims to do exactly that.